Families of two murdered teens face interrogations, searches in occupied Berdiansk

MIHR coordinator Olha Reshetylova announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

According to her, "there are several facts that should be known and clearly recorded now so that the boys’ killers don’t escape punishment." In particular, a few days ago, an investigator, accompanied by an armed convoy, came to detain the teens but the latter managed to escape.

On the day of their murder, the two teens were at the police station. Half an hour before the detective investigator called the parents telling them that the boys had been killed, Tyhran's mother spoke with her son over the phone.

"Tyhran was calm, he said that they were outside with Mykyta, thinking about plans for celebrating Mykyta’s birthday. Mykyta would have turned 17 today," the coordinator wrote.

She added that the watchdog is now seeing multiple discrepancies in terms of facts, timing, and even clothing worn by the teens. The parents have not yet seen the bodies. Instead, relatives have been tormented with interrogations and searches since last night.

"This gives reason to question the main version of the investigation committee about the ‘assault’ on ‘policemen.’ At least, Tyhran and Mykyta’s parents believe this whole shootout, the death video was a staged act to kill the boys," said Reshetylova.

According to her, Ukrainian investigative bodies initiated criminal proceedings into the murder of the two minors. The MIHR is cooperating with the inquiry, providing all available information.

As reported earlier, in occupied Berdiansk, the invaders reported the "liquidation of two pro-Ukrainian terrorists." One of them is 16-year-old Tyhran Ohannysian. The MIHR notes that another teenager in question is Mykyta Khanganov.

The last video recorded by Tyhran is circulating across social networks and media. Speaking to his phone camera, the teenager says: "I’m going to die here, guys. Farewell. Glory to Ukraine" before the recording cuts.

Tyhran Ohannisyan had previously been abducted by the occupiers back in September 2022. Together with another teenager, Mykytra Khanganov, he was accused of terrorism. Both were threatened 20 years of imprisonment.

In June of this year, the European Parliament demanded that the Russian authorities halt the case against the minors and allow them to leave for the Ukrainian-controlled territory.

The case was covered late May by activists with the Media Initiative for Human Rights organization. According to their data, Tyhran was brutally interrogated, beaten, and tortured by the electric current  for five days. The detectives demanded that the teenager confess to plotting an act of sabotage on rail tracks in the area of Melitopol.